Welcome! We hope you enjoy following the restoration process of a 1918 Curtiss JN4D Jenny.
Once completed, the aeroplane will be flown and displayed at the Candler Field Museum in Williamson GA (30 miles south of Atlanta).
You can contact me below by clicking on "VIEW MY PROFILE"

Friday, August 14, 2009

Gear airfoil cutout and First castings

Now that the airfoil had been carved, it was time to cut out the section where the bungee cords will go. As you can see, there are two angles to the cuts. After thinking about it, I found the easiest way (and most accurate blade control) was to use a coping saw.

I probably could have used the bandsaw, but I liked this method better. Even if it took longer. It worked well for cutting out the inside too.

Here's the airfoil after the cutout was removed. Of course there's a bit of sanding to do yet.

The airfoil is held onto the peach baskets with some airfoil shaped brackets. The airfoil is notched to go inside these brackets. I used a cutter on a Dermel tool.

Here is the bracket in place (to be welded later).

On a side note - the Jenny used a bunch of castings in its construction. They are very hard to find, so we decided to remake them. This has been in the works for quite some time and now the first one has been poured.

John Gaertner did the Solid Works 3D programming for each casting which was sent to a resin pattern maker. From there, John cast the first part - the piece on the tail skid that holds the bungee cord in place. Here is the process:

Making the mold using the pattern

Pouring the aluminium.

Cooling.

The parts after initial cleaning. There is still some maching and grinding to do, but the parts are exact as the original. Well done, John.

Also, we have contracted Dove Works Foundry in Anniston, AL to cast some of the more complex parts. They should be done in a week or two. I'll post some pictures when I get the parts.